Dalton 9-piece Butterfly Leaf Counter-height Dining Set with Butterfly Leaf

First, let me say that I am very happy with my set and I would give it a rating like 4.8 stars if that were allowed. It is very nice for what I paid for it, but this set isn't perfect. Delivery and Assembly Everything arrived in generally good condition except 3 pieces had edge damage from shipment that Overstock was very easy to work with to get replaced. The table arrives as an assembled table top with 4 legs that you have to bolt on. The assembled table is very heavy and awkward. Unless you have the ability to hoist an 80 pound (I'm guessing) table over your head, you will need a friend (or two) to get it flipped over safely. Each chair arrives as a single-piece chairback and rear leg assembly, a seat, 2 front legs, and 3 leg stretchers. To hold this all together requires 10 bolts and 6 screws for each chair. It takes a long time to put together 8 chairs. A "wrench" is included with each bag of bolts, but I would suggest you track down a 12mm socket wrench for the bolts and a #2 phillips head bit that is at least 3" long for the pocket holes on the stretchers. Construction quality All pieces seem well-constructed with no visible finger-jointing and I am confident that the chairs and table will still be solid years from now. A few small gripes: It's hard to get the chairs level and wobble-free. I've resorted to felt pads to fix this. The table, for its part, does not wobble, but that is because there is a little play it the leaf extension rails, which makes it hard to get the leaf pins to not drag. The latches that hold the table together are not tight enough to hold the leaf grooves completely shut (this may be a symptom of the dragging leaf pins). The edges of the leaves are beveled, forming a groove that crumbs want to collect in. One of the leaves on my table had wood defects "fixed" by drilling out and inserting dowels. Little perfect circles randomly scattered on a table surface does not scream "quality". Finish quality The underlying wood has a tight grain similar to maple or alder, but has numerous small knots in it. I have no clue what species of wood was used, but it does appear to be only one species for every piece in the set. The finish looks beautiful out of the box with a satiny finish coat on top of a dark brown stain. The problem is that it is a sprayed-on stain on top of a white wood. It is very prone to chipping off at the edges, revealing the almost-white wood underneath. Were this not easy to fix, this would be a one-star set. It looks absolutely terrible and cheap to have a dark brown set with white chips on the edges. Fortunately, the simple repair is to use a brown Sharpie marker to cover up the white wood showing through. Overstock and their supplier would save a ton in damage replacements just by shipping a brown Sharpie with each set. So far, my repairs done this way are imperceptable, but I do have the concern that over time scratches to the flat surfaces of the table and chairs may prove more difficult to conceal. The satiny finish means greasy little fingerprints shine and glisten which typically means a wipedown of the chairs and table after every meal. Functionality While this table is capable of seating 8, you can only store 6 chairs under it with the leaves in. With the leaves out, only 4 chairs will fit under it. We are able to keep the leaves in and use the extra chairs at the breakfast bar of our counter, but otherwise chair storage would be an issue. The chairs are probably as comfortable as you can make counter-height wood seats. There are scallops carved into the seats, but they are definitely made of wood and your feet dangle or rest on the front stretcher. I wouldn't want to sit in these for hours at a time, but I suspect anyone considering this set is looking for something that looks nice and will not be destroyed when the kids dump their spaghetti on it. In summary, this is a very nice set for the price point and I would buy the same set if I had it to do over again. It is great for our lifestyle and looks nice in our kitchen. I have my doubts about the finish surviving long term, but I didn't buy this set to be a family heirloom...and didn't pay heirloom furniture prices, either. Thanks, Overstock!

• How did the color on site compare with the actual product? Picture is accurate, but misleading due to the lighting of the picture. Only with bright light reflecting off a surface will you get the orange-brown tones in picture. The appearance is very dark brown, as seen on the seats of the chairs in the left of the main picture.
• Please tell us about the quality of the product. Well-made, solid furniture. The finish is prone to chipping at corners, but this is easy to fix.
• How accurate was the on site description of the product? It's not two-toned, and the pivot mechanism isn't brass, but other than that, the description is accurate.